I move a lot. Not because I want to. For some reason my husband needs to move every 6-8 months and it drives me insane. All the packing, unpacking, finding new homes for things, organizing and coming up with places to put everything. Decluttering over and over! Yikes.

What do other people think about moving? Do you have any tricks to make it less stressful? Does anyone else hate moving?

For several years we moved several times. If you move that often you might consider packing up your not used or needed items and don't unpack those boxes. Pack "needed every day" items to be unpacked and will have a place every place you move.

Quit trying to reorganize every time you move, just do it once.

I actually didn't mind moving that much, mainly because for several years I knew we would be moving again.

BRL, your words are wise. My problem is that each time Dan has said, this will be the last time." I kept believing him. Now I know better! I am moving into the RV so I won't have to move my stuff again - it will all be with me, everywhere I am.

The stuff that is in CA storage, we will work on eliminating this spring. What remains will go with us to family land he has out in OK where we will build a two story shed with a guest house on the to floor that dan can use as an office/extra bedroom for when I am out traveling in the RV. I think and hope it's the final solution. I can't do this again!

I've moved several times and absolutely hate it. I swore I wanted to retire in this house but hubby is making noises about moving to a warmer climate. Each time we've moved it's been for a good reason that we've agreed on, and I can't hold it against him that he's not happy in this cold climate (I love it), but I'm REALLY tired of not being settled.

I'm not sure there is an easier way to move once you've mastered the basics. You can fine tune it up to a certain point, but it doesn't change the stressful parts of packing up at the last minute your last-minute things, trying to stay somewhat organized so you sort of know what's in those boxes, etc.

At least my collections of useless junk have vanished, and I'm much more careful about buying stuff these days.

Do you scout for boxes out of habit everywhere you go whether you're in moving mode or not? I do!

428pm it sounds like you have a system down pat. I've never used movers - i bet that takes a lot of stress off.

Yeah, partlycloudy, I am all about boxes and bins for moving. It's like i see the world through a box lens sometimes!

We pretty much ARE DONE with the stuff in the house - just loaded bins waiting to get dragged to our CA storage. Once we are in CA, a new source of stress will set in as we attempt to downsize to a smaller, cheaper rental unit. I am hoping I can consign a large chunk of the stuff to stores in the area.

But that is a few weeks away and I am not going to worry about it just now.

A big concern is what to do with our extra car. I need to bring it to my friend in Flagstaff and just leave it in the street, or drive it to my parents' in San Diego and then somehow get back here.

It's worth the xtra dough for the movers Takes ALL the stress off...Just makes sure you are there to get them in and out, get them bottles of water and snacks (they tend to be more careful if you are more thoughtful) and than stay out of the way. I take the animals and only worry about that.

I realized that the move was in 5 days and freaked again. I still have so much to do here yet. Dan suggested we move the moving date back again.

I wonder how long we will be able to keep doing this? We don't actually have to be anywhere by a certain time until May. But living in the driveway here is a bit odd, too.

428pm, that sounds SO MUCH easier with only worrying about yourself and your animals. I feel more relaxed just thinking about that. With our situation and the RV it's not feasible, since all the extra stuff we can just carry in the RV til we reach our storage shed in CA.

We are thinking about a tow dolly for my car and just to drive Dan's to my parents' in San Diego for while we drive up the coast.

Anyway, I am mildly amused by the idea that we can just keep squatting here in this driveway forever.